David Hyde Pierce & New Author Sensation, Joan Baker, Host Book Launch Party for Joan's Secrets of Voice-Over Success

Gala Features Live Performance by Legendary Songstress Phoebe Snow Plus 100 Actors, Entertainment Industry Executives. Author Proceeds Being Donated to Alzheimers Foundation.

(PRWEB) June 12, 2005 -- David Hyde Pierce, four-time Emmy Award-winner and star of Spamalot, the Tony Award-winning musical on Broadway, and new author sensation, Joan Baker, host book launch party for Joans Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It.

More than 100 actors, entertainment and book industry executives gathered to celebrate the publication of this book -- a compilation of the personal journeys of 19 of the best actors in the business -- authored by Joan Baker, one of the top voice-over actors in the country and a sought-after voice-over coach.

They also gathered to support Joan Baker and David Hyde Pierce in their commitment to bring the acting community together to help fight Alzheimers, a disease that robs individuals of their voices. All author proceeds from the book are being donated to the Alzheimers Foundation.

The gala featured a live performance by legendary songstress, Phoebe Snow, who sang a medley of songs including Poetry Man. An all-star line-up of guests included Valerie Smaldone, mid-day host on 106.7 Lite-FM; Don LaFontaine, the voice of over 4,000 movie trailers; Steve Zirnkilton, the voice of Law & Order and Rugrats: The Movie; Joe Cipriano, of The Simpsons; Les Marshak, The Oscar Awards; Bill Ratner, Star Wars and Cold Mountain; Fred Collins of ABC News and the first voice heard on color television; plus Janice Pendarvis, Stephen Newman, Cedering Fox, and Dave Fennoy, the voices of some of advertisings most successful television and radio commercials. The guest list also featured entertainment executives from Sony BMG, HBO, Nickelodeon, Lifetime Entertainment, ABC, WCBS --TV, and AOL/Time Warner. The event was sponsored by Push Creative and Citibank.

I wrote this book to honor my father," says author Joan Baker. As one who depends so explicitly on my voice as an instrument, I was particularly struck by the way Alzheimers muted my fathers voice. How fitting it is that a community of voice-over actors who depend on being self-expressed for their very livelihood would in turn honor those who no longer can."

When asked why he had written the foreword to this book, the first time he has accepted an invitation to do so, David Hyde Pierce explained, Secrets of Voice-Over Success just grabbed me. It grabbed me because I have both a love of its subject -- the art of the voice-over -- and a passion for its mission: the fight against Alzheimers."

Joan Baker has created a rewarding and ever-expanding career as a voice-over actor and is a much sought after voice-over coach. Among her many achievements, she was chosen to narrate the introduction film for President Clintons Presidential Library and to voice a commercial TV campaign promoting the new Muhammad Ali Center. Her clients include MTV, ESPN, ABC News, NBC, Showtime, HBO, Nickelodeon, Imus in the Morning, Oprah.com, Sony Music and American Express. Among the clients she has coached are Johnnie Cochran and Court TVs Nancy Grace, along with numerous Fortune 500 CEOs and executives. Joan is represented exclusively by Innovative Artists.

Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It offers the inside scoop on the lucrative career of voice-over acting told by the top talents in the field. Compelling stories of nineteen highly successful voice-over professionals, the author inspires and teaches novices and experienced actors everything theyll need from developing their talent to landing that first job. The book, published by Sentient Publications, is available in trade paperback for $18.95 wherever books are sold.

# # #